Same As It Never Was
by Incogneeta
Summary: TFA. All Bumblebee ever knew and loved of his new home on Earth...gone in the nightmare world he awoke to.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters and I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same As It Never Was" and other post-apocalyptic episodes, so you'll probably spot some similarities.  
**

**Warning: Violence. It will build up as the story goes on.  
**

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**Same As It Never Was**

_**Chapter One**_

... ...What happened? How did he get here? These questions, with no answers, seemed to run through his mind on loop.

After Bumblebee slowly onlined his optics, he found himself lying uncomfortably on his side, atop of pieces of rubble and remnants of concrete. His processor stung as if someone had used it for shooting practice, while his entire chassis ached-- the result of moving so quickly after awaking from a stasis sleep. Taking a few moments to recuperate and allow the remainder of his system to reboot, Bumblebee glanced around half expecting to see the same usual buildings, roads, etc. of Detroit, but there wasn't any possible way that this...this..._vestige_...was the same Detroit that he knew.

What was this desolate place? Barely standing shards of aged buildings stood, where Bumblebee remembered great, giants once towered. Ruinous streets ran bare, aside from the many cracks that was etched into them. Even the sky, that was once a gentle blue, was twisted into a dark, foreboding gray above the city. Bumblebee's internal cycle programming told him it was the daytime according to the area's time zone, but if that was true, then where were all the humans?

"Hello?" Bumblebee called out hesitantly, hoping deeply that someone would reply.

No answer.

"Hello?!" Bumblebee called again, with anxiousness accompanying his voice, but still after a few cycles passed, once again there wasn't an answer.

Maybe he could contact the others on his comm-link. He had no other option at the moment. So, that would be the best thing to do.

As a sigh seeped through his vents, Bumblebee slowly brought his index digit to temple of his helmet and activated his communicator.

"Hey, this is Bumblebee! Anyone read me?" Bumblebee spoke hopingly. "Bulkhead? Prime? Anybody there?" Bumblebee asked quietly, his tone becoming more desperate with every word he spoke. "Ratchet? Prowl?..." Weird. His readings told him that there were no other frequencies online. How was that even possible? Was he truly the only sentient being here?

A sound of incoming rotors is what broke Bumblebee from his pondering of what to do next. Swarms of the little police bots swarmed down from the sky and surrounded Bumblebee in mid-flight. At first he thought there must have been a robbery or something going on, but after realizing that these little machines were aiming at him there lasers, Bumblebee began to think otherwise. "_Attention. Autobot spotted. Prepare for_ _imminent capture for Lord Megatron.._" One of the 'bots ordered montonely.

"What?" Bumblebee questioned skeptically, almost unsure if he heard correctly. Megatron, the Megatron Bumblebee specifically remebered being blown up by the AllSpark? Did that thing really just say Megatron's name or was his processor frizting?

"_Surrender or suffer the consequences." _The same machine said, while it and the others began to charge their lasers.

Bumblebee took a step back, overlapping his servos in a confused stance. What on Cybertron was going on here? Normally Bumblebee would have no trouble with the pesky fliers (as he proved when he first met Sari), but this wasn't a normal situation. It appeared that they had a modification; they were slightly larger then the previous ones and each individually was branded with the Decepticon symbol. What next? A happy-go-lucky Decepticon?

"_Resistance is futile. Surrender._" The unemotional voice began and suddenly released a bolt of neon lasers that skidded past Bumblebee's faceplate and uppermost of his frame. The other 'bots followed in suit and released wave after wave of lasers at the yellow mech.

Quickly, Bumblebee darted to the closest area that could hold up as cover and plunged behind a bulky slab of concrete approximately nine or ten feet away from where he was standing. Switching his hand like servos to his stingers, Bumblebee turned over and aimed above the concrete. Hastily, he locked onto one of the nearer 'bots firing at him and returned a few short yellow jolts.

"I'm slagged!" Bumblebee whimpered after seeing that his attacks were having no effect on the flying machines. It seemed like they were built with more protection on the plating; Bumblebee's lasers were only reflected off. "Man, where's Bulkhead or Ratchet when you need them?!"

As if on a ironic, but fortunate for Bumblebee, queue, a familiar wrecking ball swerved into the scene and sent a good dozen fliers crashing into a side of one of the crumbling buildings, after giving them a good clobbering. The silhouette of what Bumblebee thought to be his enormous, oil guzzling companion leaped down from one of the rooftops and began to ruthlessly swing at the machines, which by now had turned their attention on the large 'bot attacking them and focused the lasers on him. Undeterred, Bulkhead shook off the advances and allowed the blasts to impact on him as he maneuvered the steel ball to strike machine after machine. As the number of flying 'bots diminished, the number of lasers fired at him shrank away as well. To add a finishing touch, Bulkhead grabbed a piece of rock nearly the size of Bumblebee's alternate mode and hurled it towards the few remaining robots.

If it were any other time, Bumblebee would have jokingly commented on how the big hulk liked to take his time to help him, but for once he was just glad that Bulkhead made it.

"Good thing you got here in time buddy," Bumblebee murmured with a sigh of relief, while reverting his stingers back to his regular servos. The flying machines had finally all been destroyed. "Why didn't you answer me on the comm-link though, Bulkhead?" He asked, moving from the shelter of the concrete and taking a step forward, trying to focus his optics on his friend. Oddly, Bulkhead's form was darkened deeply by shadow.

"So...," Bulkhead's voice slowly began, but never moved from the shadow's cover, "the little coward finally came back." The voice added with a venomous grunt. Somehow Bulkhead's voice was _different_. Not seeming it was like a different voice module or anything, it was just a colder and maturer one than Bumblebee remembered it to be.

"Coward? Bulkhead what are you talking about? I didn't go anywhere!" Bumblebee replied in his own defense.

"Oh really? Then what about these last twenty stellar cycles?!" Bulkhead's voice questioned, fueled solely on rage. "Stop playing games and act serious for once!"

"Twenty stellar cycles?!" Bumblebee repeated in shock. How could that be? "That's not possible!"

Was Bulkhead trying to joke with him?

"It can and it is. How could you just abandon us like that?! We were a team! And then, you just leave us. Because of you...so many people..." The anger and sorrow expressed in his voice was very eery. Despite how much Bumblebee wanted him to be, he had a gut feeling that Bulkhead couldn't be lying. The evidence was lying all around him-- the wreckage of the city.

"Bulkhead...I would never leave you guys! I-I...just woke up and found myself here. I don't even know how I got here!" Bumblebee pleaded. He couldn't believe that Bulkhead, of all people, would accuse him of something so ridiculous.

Painstaking silence creeped on for a few moments as Bumblebee tried to think of someway to try to convince his friend of his innocence. Hearing the vents in Bulkhead's pedes slightly rev up, Bumblebee realized that his much larger friend was taking a few steps forward. Bumblebee was almost relieved in thinking that Bulkhead's anger had simmered down enough for him to come out from the shadows, but it was soon replaced in doubt to think how much Bulkhead had changed. His gentle, yet klutzy, happiness seemed to of evaporated. The surroundings only seemed to mirror Bulkhead's gloomy attitude, and Bumblebee sadly glanced around.

While Bumblebee was "gone" had things really turned out so horrible?

"We should get back to the base, before any more of those things show up." Bumblebee heard Bulkhead mutter behind him. He turned to give the large 'bot an agreeing smile, but his faceplate was immediately consumed by horror.

Standing where he expected Bulkhead to be wasn't Bulkhead at all. Bumblebee was utterly shocked and dazed to see Lugnut's purple and green chassis with Bulkhead's arm units and lower servos.

"Shocking isn't it?" Lugnut's mouth moved, but Bulkhead's voice filled with odium repulsion came out, instead of the deep, scratchy one of the Deceptcion. "After eleven long stellar cycles, I'm still disgusted by it."

"Bulk...head..." Bumblebee stumbled on his words; his optics never leaving that of Bulkhead's "body". "W-what...what happened Bulkhead?"

"Heh. Lugnut and I got into a good scrap a while back. I was able to get him offline, but my chassis was too damaged to be salvaged. Luckily Ratchet was still around to give me a spark transfer by using the EMP. Poor 'bot though...Without Sari's key, the EMP was too much of a toll on him and his old chassis..." Bulkhead explained dryly.

"You mean Ratchet's..." Bumblebee murmured in daze of disbelief, unable to form a complete sentence as horrific images of a life depleted, gray medic lying unattended on the battle field haunted him.

"Yep..." Bulkhead assured him with a harsh tone, while Lugnut...err.. Bulkhead's face plate made a flinch of sorrow as his single optic narrowed dimly. "He joined the well of AllSparks quite some time ago. But he isn't the only one we lost ever since Megatron gained control of the AllSpark."

"That's not possible! Bossbot and Megatron battled it out on the Ark, but Megatron shattered the AllSpark..."After that though, Bumblebee blanked.

"Have you fried your circuits, Bumblebee?! You were there! Long enough to see Megatron get the AllSpark anyway... Your disappearance seemed like an omen of what was to come. Megatron used the AllSpark against us and to begin conquering Earth and, we got our afts beaten badly. No matter how many times we tried to stop him, it was always the same result every single time. Sure we all tried our best to keep fighting; it took a toll on us after a while. Especially Prime. He cracked under the pressure and just left one day, though I always thought that Prowl would be the first to abandon ship. No idea if Prime's still online or not, but I could care less about that back ho-less leader."

"I don't understand...How did this..." Bumblebee spoke sadly. This wasn't the Earth he knew. This miserable place wasn't the precious home he slowly came to enjoy. All the lights of the city, the chaotic harmony of the people talking, the Bulkhead he knew, their team...

"Prowl's the same stoic ninja-bot," Bulkhead continued on, most likely not hearing the yellow mech's small protests. "Well, he's the one to change the least out of us anyway. I'm not sure if I should be surprised or not. I mean he is more bitter these days, but who came blame him? Ever since Sari..."

"Sari?!" Bumblebee snapped in attention, just at the mention of his human friend's name. Bumblebee couldn't believe how stupid he was. Sari's welfare hadn't even crossed his processor until that moment. "Where's Sari, Bulkhead?!"

Bulkhead heaved a heavy sigh and bowed his head, shame written all over his faceplate. "She's...gone Bumblebee... Blitzwing saw to that nearly eighteen stellar cycles ago," he whispered hatefully.

"No..." Bumblebee couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it! There was no way that Sari could be gone. It just wasn't believable. But, then why was his spark able to accept so easily and pulse angrily underneath his chest plate? Allowing himself to slide sorrowfully to the concrete beneath his feet, Bumblebee found himself glaring at pale concrete below him. What if it was his fault that this happened? What if it was his fault that Sari was gone? He wasn't there to protect her, even if he didn't know how he got here in the first place.

"No! No! No!" Bumblebee cried in rage. He drew back his hand and curled it into a fist. He slammed it into the ground and raised the tight fist back into the air before the pounding the ground once more; the yellow paint on his knuckles chipped away when he had finished.

"Sari thought it would be a good idea to use the key on Megatron...Turn your back for just a nano-kilk and she's blown up...But, she isn't the only one we lost since then though..." Bulkhead stated sourly. "After Megatron forced Professor Sumdac to build his robot army, he studied the schematics and decided that Sari's father was no longer necessary. And even Captain Fanzone. Poor guy was stomped on by Megatron like he was an ant-droid...It's funny 'Bee...You never notice how much you miss a guy who always gripes about how much he hates machines until he's gone..."

"Bulkhead...This future...It's a nightmare...This should have never happened!" Bumblebee cried, breaking Bulkhead from his reminiscing. If Bulkhead was still naive as Bumblebee was, he would have agreed with the small yellow 'bot, but after all that he had witnessed during the past twenty stellar cycles, Bulkhead knew that he could not bring himself to it. This constant war and fighting had changed him greatly. He had no cheery outlook on his cycles anymore and as every orbital cycle dragged on, the small hope he held for a change weaned as each moment passed

"Things never go the way you want them to," Bulkhead replied coldly and suddenly his entire body shifted over itself. Bumblebee immediately realized that he was changing to vehicle mode.

"Let's go. If we stay here any longer, more of those machines are bound to be back." Bumblebee's optics carefully studied the truck before him. It wasn't quite like Bulkhead's large van form, but still stood similar in size. This green and purple vehicle was more like a camper truck with a large and roomy cover on the backside.

When Bumblebee realized that Bulkhead was pulling off without him, he quickly switched to his vehicle mode and sped after him.

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**_A/N: I did NOT "steal" this fanfic from ProoowlingNinja. It would be kind of impossible since we are the same person. :] If you read the Author's note on my old account, everything will make sense. I am re-uploading (and re-editing) the chapters onto this new account and finishing the story from here. Please Read and Review.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters and I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same As It Never Was" and other post-apocalyptic episodes, so you'll probably spot some similarities.**

**Warning: Violence. It will build up as the story goes on.**

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**Same As It Never Was**

_**Chapter Two **_

The drive seemed to go by slowly, especially since Bulkhead ordered Bumblebee to follow behind him into hiding whenever he spotted more of the patrol bots on his scanners. At first Bumblebee believed that they were heading to the factory, but Bumblebee had to remind himself that during the past twenty stellar cycles the homey factory may not even be their base anymore. It may have been destroyed like the other buildings in this dreadful place; wiped away like an old stain as Sari and all of the others were.

"Hey Bulkhead?" Bumblebee quietly called over to the speeding truck while his optical units observed old arches of building after building pass by.

"If you don't want more of the things to find your frequency and come after us, then I suggest you mute your vocal amp. and be _quiet,_" hissed the bulky truck.

Bumblebee really couldn't blame Bulkhead for his attitude, but he was still taken back by his response. He must have seen a lot over the time; Sari, Ratchet, his friends and countless number of innocents purged away like they were nothing, and of top of that, he didn't even have his own body anymore. What did it feel like to wake up from stasis rest every time expecting to see your face, your chassis, but only to remember that you'll never see it again? Bumblebee didn't have an answer, but he tried to respect his older friend's command out of empathy. So, the yellow 'bot did just that and quickly turned down his vocal generator without a single word of argument or a usually snappy comeback about Bulkhead's attitude.

When Bulkhead slowly came to a halt and transformed into his robot mode, Bumblebee quickly pulled behind the large 'bot, his body unfolding as he changed to robot mode as well. He looked at the large, but crumbled building ahead and titled his head slightly. Despite being in a broken state, the warehouse seemed slightly familiar. Bumblebee had seen it before, he was sure of it.

"This is..." Bumblebee drawled, not knowing exactly how to describe it.

Bulkhead glanced over to the smaller 'bot and finished for him, "It's the only haven in this Pit."

"Are Prime and Prowl in there?" Bumblebee asked, motioning to the warehouse curiously.

"You're half right. Let's go," Bulkhead muttered quietly and quickly darted to the building. As Bumblebee pursued after the giant's disappearing form, he couldn't help but to acknowledge that his movements seemed more stern and no longer clumsy.

After climbing over large pieces of rock and concrete lying in the walkway and passing a large slab square of concrete that Bulkhead pushed aside, Bumblebee found himself in a dark, roomy area, where a small amount of humans uneasily paced around to his surprise. Some were carrying papers and some carried weaponry, but one thing that Bumblebee noticed made the humans seem almost identical; each, regardless of gender or age, wore patched clothing and hopeless faces. Where were the bright colors and variety Bumblebee once remembered? Was even expression taken away from these people?

One thing that Bumblebee thought was strange though, was how it was possible that such a large area could be in such a seemingly small building. Unless, there was a holographic projector involved or something that cloaked the building to make it seem less conspicuous.

"Bulkhead? Where are all the people?" Bumblebee asked hesitantly.

"These are "all the people", Bumblebee. The lucky ones anyway..." Bulkhead stated laconically, but barely turned to look atacknowleged the smaller mech. "Megatron sent out those drones to force people to continue making more robots at Sumdac's tower. Expendable labor. A few humans tried to fight back, like Captain Fanzone, but I don't really need to tell you the result. You can see it wherever you look. Detroit is nothing but a battlefield now."

"This is so...horrible," said the yellow 'bot piteously.

"You'll get used to it," Bulkhead replied inexpressively.

"We have to do something Bulkhead!" Bumblebee cried in disbelief.

How could it have come to this?

"Didn't you hear me Bumblebee?! We tried so many times to go against Megatron that I lost count long ago."

"But we can't just let Megatron get away with this future! Maybe if we just--"

"Bumblebee!" Bulkhead snarled suddenly and whipped around. With a menacing looking appearing on his faceplate, the giant took a step towards Bumblebee and seethed his arms through the air diagonally; his frame beginning to rumble with a low roar. "What don't you understand?! Take a look around! Does it really look like we have the time or supplies to worry about going against Megatron right now?! Tell me Bumblebee, is it _really_ worth fighting a battle you know you'll lose?" Bulkhead's ominous voice flooded.

Bumblebee took a single step back as soon as Bulkhead began his bellowing. He still wasn't used to seeing Bulkhead with Lugnut's face and it only made it worse that currently Bulkhead's emotions were being channeled through Lugnut's optic and vocal chords. It was just plain awkward, if not slightly terrifying.

"Is it necessary to be using such a loud, distracting voice, you behemoth? I can't concentrate on my work! Are you sure that you didn't receive Lugnut's...astute_..._ spark as well as his massive body?" A suspiciously familiar, high-pitched voice called from behind Bumblebee.

Quickly Bumblebee turned to look for the owner of the voice, but felt his entire chassis freeze in anxiety after seeing who stood merely feet away. Despite that his entire chest plate was carved in with scratches, the cockpit covering for his spark chamber was shattered, his servo covers were a faded, almost rusted, color, and that his wings were replaced by long, flat blades of a rotor, Bumblebee could never mistake when he was in Starscream's annoying presence.

"You know Starscream, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're trying to insult me," Bulkhead commented slowly as his optic narrowed to a glare at the seeker.

"Wherever would you get an idea like that?" Starscream asked with dry tinted sarcasm. "Well, well, well," Starscream began after he turned his attention to the yellow 'bot, "what do we have here?" Bringing a digit to the chin area of his face place, Starscream scanned Bumblebee up and down a few times with his crimson optics.

Ignoring the antagonizing stares he felt the Decepticon shoot at him and the disgust rising in his system, Bumblebee faced Bulkhead and gave him a questioning glance. "Bulkhead. Why is _he_ here?"

"Don't you know? Oh that's right! You've been gone for nearly twenty solar cycles, haven't you?" Starscream asked with a sly sense of innocence in his tone. "Since that worthless pile of scrap metal got his grubbing clench on the AllSpark, I've had to find some assistance in these little ranks. I'm nothing more than a _humble_ scientist now," Starscream chuckled deeply as he swayed his arms out; trying to emphasize the humble even with contradictory frown on his face.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Bumblebee asked with crossed servos.

"Despite the wonderful catching up we've had, I have more important matters to attend to--"

"Starscream." Bumblebee recognized the unperturbed voice of Prowl call out to the seeker and turned to find its source silently curious. Had Prowl drastically changed over the twenty stellar cycles? Did he even have the same chassis as before? "I thought I might find you here. Take these disks to Lockdown. He may be a shoddy medic to turn to, but can decode fairly well."

Bumblebee saw that, fortunately, Prowl wasn't greatly different to a point where you couldn't recognize him, but he still looked somewhat different. His right shoulder blade was missing; almost if it was cut cleanly off just above his chest plate. His black and gold paint was at such a sallow point, it almost appeared silver and the two pieces above his visor were fractured and broken. But the thing that Bumblebee took into notice mostly was Prowl's right arm or what was supposed to be his arm. Connected at the joint of the higher arm area was a distinctly blue colored laser, which stood out like a sore digit.

He didn't know whether to say anything or not to the ninja-bot until he saw that Prowl had figured out that the shorter 'bot was watching him; an icy glare turned into a vexatious frown as Prowl stared at Bumblebee in recognition. So, the yellow 'bot lifted up a hand to wave slightly and gave a solemn, "Hey Prowl. How have you been?" Though he didn't really expect a "Hi" or any greeting in return, Bumblebee certainly didn't expect to be tackled at upon sight. Prowl had done just that without warning and pinned Bumblebee down while aiming his laser at his spark chamber.

"How dare you show yourself now?!" Prowl hissed infuriatingly as his left servo made its way to Bumblebee's throat and gripped as tightly as possible. Bumblebee was almost certain that if Prowl squeezed just a bit harder, he would cause one of his energon tubes to burst.

"Oooh... Reunions are just so joyous," Starscream stated with a snicker.

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_**A/N: I'll be updating this either weekly or bi-weekly, depending on how busy I am at the moment. But seriously, editing these chapters want to make me cry and then rip my eyes out because of the many, many errors I've seen while looking over the chapters I already wrote (if you can consider horrible writing such). It makes my soul bleed to see how bad I was when I first started this; I would like to think I've improved somewhat.**_

_**Also, please don't hesitate to give me any pointers or inform me of any mistake.  
**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters and I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same As It Never Was" and other post-apocalyptic episodes, so you'll probably spot some similarities.**

**Warning: Violence. It will build up as the story goes on.**

**

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**Same As It Never Was**

_**Chapter Three**_

Bumblebee never thought that Prowl was _capable_ of displaying sheer acts of lethality. Could this assumption have been a mistake on his behalf? Sure, he pressed the ninja to more than his fair share on more than one occasion, but how was he supposed to know that, twenty stellar cycles into the future, he would be at the mercy of the very same 'bot? Even so, Bumblebee never once saw true rage or wrath on his teammate's face plate, unlike what this Prowl wore. He saw nothing of tranquility or calmness; only violence and virulence. He knew that Prowl was very angry—though it seemed like everyone was currently—as his glaring obviously expressed that.

"_Why_?! Why have you returned?!" Prowl spat in an enraged question. Cracks in his voice made it sound as if he was almost overwhelmed and barely keeping himself together.

"Prowl...Just listen..." Bumblebee pleaded quietly, his optics straying away deadly glare focused on him.

"Listen?! What could you possibly have to say for yourself?" Prowl his as his servo only tightened with greater force instead of loosening as Bumblebee hoped.

With a growing sense of a guilt, Bumblebee gazed weakly upwards. Bulkhead had said that Prowl was the one who changed the least of them, but Bumblebee specifically remembered that Prowl was nothing like this...callous machine. Why wasn't Bulkhead helping the yellow 'bot anyway? Quickly glancing to the larger and bulky mech, Bumblebee came to the realization that Bulkhead was watching with a rather unsure and hesitant tone on his faceplate, but did nothing to assist him.

This future-- no... nightmare. It just wasn't right. Bulkhead may have been just a big, unsightly klutz, but he always stood up for his friends even if the consequences would mean a chewing out from Prime or Ratchet. Bumblebee couldn't comprehend exactly every single ordeal that his old friend had been put through, excluding his change of chassis, to change him so drastically, but it must have been horrible. It didn't seem like anyone else had it easy either though. No one was spared. Sari and Ratchet were gone, Prime was nowhere to be seen, and Bulkhead wasn't even "Bulkhead" anymore. Not to mention that Prowl tossed his restrain away.

Suddenly, Bumblebee found himself broken from his sad reminiscing and forced to stand up by a powerful tug from Prowl. He was suspiciously strong for a ninja 'bot; a lot stronger than Bumblebee had remembered him to be. Then again, the twenty stellar cycles could have allowed Prowl the chance to train himself more vigorously. Though that didn't particularly help Bumblebee's situation, at the moment.

"Get out! Go back!" Prowl hissed at Bumblebee as he pushed him forward. Bumblebee turned with a questioning glance, but found himself face to face with Prowl's laser before being shoved forward again.

"Go back?! Prowl please--"

"You've shown where your loyalties lie. Now leave!"

Prowl couldn't be serious! If Bumblebee went back outside, then chances were that the scouting machines would find him and the outcome would not be good.

"Enough!" The sudden boom from Bulkhead's voice caused both Prowl and Bumblebee to cease movement and both quickly turned to face the larger mech. Prowl's faceplate wore an angered glare that demanded an explanation, while Bumblebee was grateful that Bulkhead decided to intervene; better late than never.

Perhaps things only became worse because of Bulkhead defending Bumblebee, seeing that the two had entered a standoff of glaring that only added tension to the gloomy area. The only one who seemed to be unaffected by this was Starscream. From a glance at the "scientist" standing behind Bulkhead, Bumblebee realized that he was obviously enjoying this. He didn't say anything, but it wasn't like he had to. The flier was leaning back on the support of a rubble wall with crossed servos. An amused grin was all but hidden on the seeker's faceplate. It even looked like he was chuckling at the sight of Prowl and Bulkhead, inaudibly that is. Once a Decepticon, always a Decepticon. No matter how much this particular Decepticon claimed to be a "simple scientist."

"Let him be Prowl..." Bulkhead quietly warned as he watched Prowl with a narrowing optic as Bumblebee turned back towards the two. Prowl only seemed to become angrier and angrier with every word Bulkhead murmured, but remained silent. Venting a frustrated growl, Prowl slowly turned his focus away from larger mech.

He turned back to face Bumblebee, dim blue optics darting accusingly to the yellow 'bot. Bumblebee almost expected to be pushed or yelled at once more, but after fearfully glancing up towards the taller black and gold mech, he found himself at a loss of words. For a split moment, Bumblebee could have sworn Prowl's malicious expression had subtly changed to an anguished one written with regret. Unfortunately, any trace of such a face had quickly disappeared when Prowl hastily turned away and marched up to Starscream.

"Why are you still here?! Take these to Lockdown! NOW!" Prowl barked at the seeker as he withdrew small, gray disks from the storage area of his golden throwing stars and thrust-ed them into Starmscream's servo.

"Of course! But, only since you asked so nicely," Starscream replied with his ever so annoying and screechy sarcasm as his digits enclosed the disks in a fist.

Prowl retorted with a vexed glare locked on Starscream, as if sending off a silent warning not to push it, but did nothing more and walked away in a slow pace after a few moments of staring at the Decepticon angrily.

"Geeze Bulkhead," Bumblebee began warily and stared questiongly at his larger friend after being sure that the ninja 'bot was out of hearing distance, "I thought you said Prowl changed the least!"

"Well, he never acted that way before." It was the only response Bulkhead gave while shrugging dubiously.

"It doesn't take that much to figure it out," came Starscream's voice in a deducting manner. He pointed his index digit at Bumblebee and chuckled wryly. "He blames you."

"Blames me? For what?" Bumblebee responded and glanced towards Starscream.

"Everything I suppose." Starscream moved his arms nearly around him in a circle in an emphasizing manner.

"Everything? What do you mean?" Bumblebee slowly asked with a gaping expression.

"Must I explain such a simple thing to you? It feels like I'm communicating to a mere protoform! Yes, _everything_! Your allies' deaths! Megatron seizing the AllSpark! But above all, I believe he thinks of you as nothing _more_ than a coward who hid himself away for twenty stellar cycles."

Bumblebee could feel Starscream watching his every move as he spoke with his snobbish tone. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, Bumblebee knew that he was right. Starscream's words had made an impact and Starscream most likely knew that. Why else would he add, "Then again what would I know about grudges?" innocently at the end, with a coy smile?

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_**A/N:**_ **Of course when I said weekly or bi-weekly, I really meant accidentally put if off for like four weeks. Anyway, as an apology, I've produced a list as to why this took so long:**

**1. My cat had kittens that are now three weeks old.**

**2. Job searching. No luck yet.**

**3. High school. I seriously can't wait until I graduate and have more time in the day to do things.**

**4. Taking College classes every Monday and Thursday nights starting this week.**

**5. I like spending some time with friends.**

**Djgnfghjsfgbjhrgbsfber...Unfortunately, this means I will be busier than ever. So, you guys know the drill. Review with typos or mistakes or opinions. I appreciate it greatly. Until next time everybody. :]  
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